How does evolution relate to disease?
Genetic disease is a necessary product of evolution (Box 1).
Fundamental biological systems, such as DNA replication, transcription and translation, evolved very early in the history of life.
Although these ancient evolutionary innovations gave rise to cellular life, they also created the potential for disease..
How have infectious diseases evolved?
New pathogens are believed to emerge from animal reservoirs when ecological changes increase the pathogen's opportunities to enter the human population1 and to generate subsequent human-to-human transmission2..
In which why has the study of biology helped us to control infectious diseases?
Biology has helped us in studying the life cycle of various parasites, pathogens, and vectors along with their modes of transmission and controlling measures.
Vaccination programs against several infectious diseases such as smallpox, chickenpox, tuberculosis, etc. have helped nearly eradicate these diseases..
What is evolutionary perspective of disease?
Evolution of Darwinian Medicine
Most diseases decrease fitness, so it would seem that natural selection could explain only health, not disease.
A Darwinian approach makes sense only when the object of explanation is changed from diseases to the traits that make us vulnerable to diseases..
What is the biology of infectious disease?
Infectious diseases are caused by pathogens, which include bacteria, fungi, protozoa, worms, viruses, and even infectious proteins called prions.
Pathogens of all classes must have mechanisms for entering their host and for evading immediate destruction by the host immune system.
Most bacteria are not pathogenic..
What is the connection between disease and evolution?
Genetic disease is a necessary product of evolution (Box 1).
Fundamental biological systems, such as DNA replication, transcription and translation, evolved very early in the history of life.
Although these ancient evolutionary innovations gave rise to cellular life, they also created the potential for disease..
What is the role of evolutionary biology in understanding diseases?
Understanding evolution can make a big difference in how we treat disease.
The evolution of disease-causing organisms may outpace our ability to invent new treatments, but studying the evolution of drug resistance can help us slow it..
Where did the infectious disease come from?
Zoonotic Disease Emergence
The majority of all human infectious diseases and pandemics have originated through the cross-species transmission of microorganisms from animals to humans, overwhelmingly in the Old World [1, 3]..
- Epidemiology is defined as the study of the onset, distribution, and control of diseases.
Evolutionary epidemiology focuses on the distribution of infectious diseases whereas Darwinian epidemiology focuses on human beings as hosts of infectious diseases. - Evolution of Darwinian Medicine
Most diseases decrease fitness, so it would seem that natural selection could explain only health, not disease.
A Darwinian approach makes sense only when the object of explanation is changed from diseases to the traits that make us vulnerable to diseases. - For instance, doctors need to understand the evolution of antibiotic resistance, methods for tracing pathogen phylogenies, how selection shaped mechanisms that regulate protective responses such as pain and fever, and the intimate connections between evolution, environment, and diseases of aging.
- Infectious diseases are caused by pathogens, which include bacteria, fungi, protozoa, worms, viruses, and even infectious proteins called prions.
Pathogens of all classes must have mechanisms for entering their host and for evading immediate destruction by the host immune system.
Most bacteria are not pathogenic. - New pathogens are believed to emerge from animal reservoirs when ecological changes increase the pathogen's opportunities to enter the human population1 and to generate subsequent human-to-human transmission2.
